Not again.
For the second straight year, the Penn men's tennis team went into its final weekend needing two victories to secure an outright Ivy League title. And for the second straight year, the Quakers came up short.
After defeating Cornell 6-1 at home Friday to put the team one win away from grabbing its first outright title in 36 years, Penn lost at Columbia 4-2, meaning the Quakers will have to share the crown for the second straight year, this time with the Lions.
"Our goal at the beginning of the season was to win a championship outright and we didn't reach that goal," coach Mark Riley said. "We had to be a little better to win a championship Sunday then we were."
Columbia (15-4, 6-1 Ivy) started off on a tear, dominating the doubles point at all three slots. The most lopsided win came at No. 3 where Mark Clemente and Jonathan Wong defeated Justin Fox and Brandon O'Gara, 8-2.
Riley credited Columbia's high energy level for its solid doubles form, adding that although Penn (12-12, 6-1) has seen some of the top teams in the country this year, the Lions' doubles teams were as good as any.
"They played as if their lives depended on it," Riley said.
After losing the doubles point, Riley still felt his team had a shot. Columbia continued its inspired play, though, and dominated at Nos. 3, 5, and 6 to secure the win. Only Jason Pinsky and Jonathan Boym won for Penn.
Riley cited the home crowd as a factor in his team's loss.
"The crowd was as good as any crowd we've faced this year," he said. "Some of my guys didn't respond to the crowd in a good enough fashion and we're going to talk about that this week."
The Quakers won't have time to hang their heads, though, as their loss sets up a playoff Sunday at Columbia to determine the league's automatic bid. Last year, Penn was in the same situation but was unable to finish it off, losing 4-3 to Brown.
Riley feels the disappointment last year should help his team in preparation for Sunday.
"I'm sure that the guys will be fired up and not want to repeat because it was a bad feeling losing 4-3 last year," Riley said.
Winning Sunday will secure an NCAA Tournament bid.
"We had a lot of adversity this year and we've come back nicely from it," Riley said. "One loss in the league is not going to make my guys quit."
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